Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, will not appear before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee for a March 20 hearing, “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office,” according to a letter from his attorney.
“Your blatant planned-for-media event is not a proper proceeding, but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary pass after the game has ended,” the younger Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, wrote in a letter to the committee’s chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday. “Let me remind you of a statement you made about how witnesses—and specifically Mr. Biden—could satisfy your prior requests.”
“At your press conference after the January 10, 2024, Committee hearing to hold Mr. Biden in contempt, you stated: ‘All we need are people to come in for the depositions, and then we’ll be finished. We just need people to show up to the depositions, and we’ll wrap this up. Nobody wants to wrap this up more than I do,’” Lowell said. “Mr. Biden did just as you asked and, as you did when you announced that witnesses could choose depositions, you want to ignore what you said.”
Lowell’s letter comes a week after Comer invited the younger Biden and his former business associates, Devon Archer, Tony Bobulinski, and Jason Galanis, to testify before the committee.
“Mr. Biden declines your invitation to this carnival sideshow,” said Lowell.
Lowell noted that Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear in a California court the following day, March 21, as the reason he couldn’t attend the hearing, though the attorney said that “the scheduling conflict is the least of the issues,” NBC News reported.
“Following interviews with key witnesses, this hearing will afford Americans the opportunity to hear from Hunter Biden and his business associates about Joe Biden’s involvement in the Bidens’ domestic and international business dealings,” a House Oversight and Accountability Committee news release from March 6 says. “The hearing will also examine inconsistencies among the witnesses’ testimonies in order to get the truth for the American people.”
The House of Representatives voted in December to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry to be conducted jointly by three House committees: Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means, The Daily Signal previously reported.
Hunter Biden derided the House impeachment inquiry as “MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father” in an opening statement during his deposition before congressional investigators on Feb. 28.
MAGA is a reference to Donald Trump’s past and current presidential campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Joe Biden frequently derides the acronym to brand his opposition as “extreme.”
The president’s son, who has been indicted on tax and gun charges, is a central figure along with the president’s brother, James Biden, in bringing in what the House Oversight and Accountability Committee determined to be about $30 million through 20 separate shell companies. The money, lawmakers say, came to the Biden family from China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Romania.
“The House Oversight Committee has called Hunter Biden’s bluff. Hunter Biden for months stated he wanted a public hearing, but now that one has been offered alongside his business associates that he worked with for years, he is refusing to come,” Comer said in a news release on Wednesday after Lowell’s letter.
“During our deposition and interview phase of our investigation, Hunter Biden confirmed key evidence, including evidence that his father, President Joe Biden, lied to the American people about his family’s business dealings and in fact attended meetings, spoke on speakerphone, and had coffee with his foreign business associates who collectively funneled millions to the Bidens,” Comer said, adding:
However, parts of Hunter Biden’s testimony contradict the testimonies of Devon Archer, Jason Galanis, and Tony Bobulinski. Next week’s hearing with Hunter Biden and his associates is moving forward, and we fully expect Hunter Biden to participate. The American people demand the truth and accountability for the Bidens’ corruption.
The Daily Signal’s Fred Lucas contributed to this report.
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